Joanne Kates on Toronto’s best new restaurants of 2016 — the top five
Joanne Kates on five delicious joints that will change the way you dine.
Category: Food
Taste Test: With David Lee, the cheesecake connoisseur
We asked chef David Lee, the brains behind Yorkville’s hottest new restaurant, Planta, to help us find the best slice in the city. Who takes the cake?
Restaurant Review: Parkdale gets a not so Guu’d izakaya
Hence my excitement when Guu, the Vancouver mothership, opened a branch in Parkdale. Guu has been fooling around with the Toronto market for a few years. They first opened a fabulous Guu on Church Street and a second one on Bloor West.
Restaurant Review: A pedigreed chef dishes out dull and confusing Canadiana at Montgomery’s
I want to adore this restaurant. Guy Rawlings’ pedigree is sterling. Most recently he was operations manager at the esteemed Bar Isabel and Bar Raval, and long before that he was sous chef at Il Mulino on Eglinton, when it was great, and pastry chef at Celestin when it was great.
Parent to Parent: Does algebra loom large in your future?
I understand now — and did not see then — that the teachers wanted the student, not his mother, to be in charge of his education.
Taste Test: Nadège Nourian helps us pick the best pumpkin pie in Toronto
Toronto’s first lady of French pastry, chef Nadège Nourian, took on the task of tasting the city’s most popular Thanksgiving dessert, pumpkin pies.
Restaurant Review: The new Chantecler shines in spots, underwhelms in others
Chantecler 2.0 has nothing to do with the Asian fusion lettucy thingies of chef Poon, but the room is unchanged — still a small and incredibly sweet bistro with thick wooden tables, some high-top, some regulation height, white tile floors a la française and a cheerful atmosphere with friendly service.
Restaurant Review: Slice of Motor City at Descendant Pizza is a lesson in deliciousness
This new (to us) form of pizza is called Detroit-style and is on offer in an unassuming 22-seat hole-in-the-wall in Leslieville.
Taste Test: Roger Mooking helps us pick Toronto’s best unconventional burger
Hogtown has a soft spot for burgers from the classic to the creative. So we enlisted chef Roger Mooking to taste the city’s best beef patties with wild toppings. The fusion of flavours between these buns takes these burgers to the next level.
Restaurant Review: Uptown Kwan does decent — but unexciting — dim sum
This peak eating moment has made the good stuff less exciting. And the Kwan dim sum isn’t. Exciting. All the regulars are here and done pretty nicely.
Taste Test: Chef Anthony Rose picks the best midway-style snacks in Toronto
Need a head start on the CNE? Chef Anthony Rose has you covered.
Restaurant Review: Honest Weight is a 20-seat heartthrob in the Junction
John Bil, the owner, pours shots of skull vodka for a couple of regulars and says he never wanted to open a restaurant that a lot of people made a fuss over. He only ever wanted a neighbourhood place, which is why, he says, “It’s only 20 seats.”